Campus contraction: STDs
By JP Sinclair | Editorial Assistant
At least one in every four Americans will have a sexually transmitted disease at some point in their lives. More than 20 STDs affect over 55 million Americans each year. If untreated these diseases can cause serious health problems like infertility and cancer.
“[STDs] are verily common in the collegiate age group,” said Andrew D. Dick, M.D., a family physician on the Southside. “In a private practice in a suburban setting like mine, we see two maybe a month, but in a clinic, they may see ten cases a day.”
STDs are caused by bacteria or viruses that live in bodily fluids, such as blood, semen and vaginal secretions. They are usually transferred during skin-to-skin contact during vaginal, anal or oral sex.
“STDs are even more of a major problem because we now know a lot of them can cause cancer,” said Lynn Moran, director of the heath center on campus. “The collegiate age range in general, are usually in their experimentation phase, but that’s not something you talk about with your partner.”
New sexual partners also increase the chances of getting an STD. Drug usage and alcohol increase the risk as well because they can impair judgement, according to Moran.
“You have to remember the idea of safe dating and drinking,” Moran said. “If you’re at a party make sure you have a friend that is looking after you.”
Staying sexually abstinent is the only sure defense against contracting an STD. Limiting the number of sexual partners and using condoms also reduce the risks.
“The things we do at the health center are programs about STDs, and talk to people one-on-one. “ Moran said.
She also said that being aware of the signs, symptoms and general knowledge about STDs is the best defense overall.
The campus health center does not do any STD screening due to funding and number of workers, according to Moran.
“We don’t do any testing here on campus. We don’t have the man-power to do that,” Moran said. “But we make it so students can come and see us about it, and we refer them to where they can go get testing.”
All STDs come in three forms: bacteria, viruses and parasites. The most common bacterial STDs are chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. Most bacteria can be killed with antibiotics.
Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial STD in the United States with over one million cases reported in 2007. Indiana is ranked 28th in the nation with almost 20,000 reported cases. Seventy-five percent of people who are infected have no symptoms, but the infection can still be passed on.
Gonorrhea is the second most common reported STD with 355,991 cases reported in 2007. Indiana is ranked 15th in the nation for number of reported infections.
Syphilis is characterized in three stages, the third being the worst, causing damage to internal organs and eventually leads to paralysis, blindness and sometimes death. Indiana is ranked 31st in the nation with 93 cases in 2006.
Viral STDs cannot be killed by antibiotics and include hepatitis, herpes, and Human Papillomavirus.
A vaccine for Hepatitis B is available, which has reduced the number of new infections. Most of the viral STDs are incurable, but medicine can lessen the severity of the outbreaks.
HPV has quickly become the newest and most common STD in the U.S., with over 20 million new cases each year. Research already has paved the way for a vaccine that protects females against the virus, now they have turned to researching it for males.
“Women at the collegiate level are more likely to have the problems associated with HPV,” Dick said. “Guys are more like vectors.”
